Laboratory Biosafety in the Time of COVID-19

Michael O. Baclig, PhD St. Luke’s Medical Center, Philippines

The number of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases worldwide has reached the 10 million mark. In the Philippines, there are over 40,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases with more than 11,000 recoveries, and over 1,200 deaths as of July 4, 2020. It is well-recognized that one of the risk mitigation strategies include routine diagnostic testing of specimens for COVID-19. To date, there are 74 DOH-licensed COVID-19 testing laboratories nationwide, both public and private. Of these, 42% came from the National Capital Region (NCR) where the number of cases had reached over nineteen thousand. Majority of the COVID-19 testing labs utilized rRT-PCR platform (73%), and the rest used cartridge-based PCR. The DOH had earlier reported that 47 (3.5%) of healthcare workers who contracted COVID-19 were medical technologists. In performing these assays, certain laboratory procedures such as unpacking the specimen, vortex mixing, and pipetting can generate droplets or aerosols, and thus, can pose risk to the health and safety of laboratory personnel handling and processing the specimens. Recently, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have provided an interim guidance for laboratory biosafety related to COVID-19. The purpose of the interim guidance is to ensure that health laboratories involved in COVID-19 testing adhere to appropriate biosafety practices. This is in keeping with the goal that only properly trained and competent personnel are authorized to handle and process clinical specimens for COVID-19 testing. In this talk, risk assessment and mitigation control measures in handling and processing specimens associated with COVID-19 will be discussed. Engineering controls, administrative controls, practices, and procedures, as well as personal protective equipment will also be highlighted.